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2012-12-30 - Hell Hath No Fury: Going All Rage
After the cleanup, everyone was exhausted and stressed. Arsenal was also very angry, to the point that not even Green Arrow or Speedy could speak to him and fled from his presence. He wandered off to get his motorcycle, and drove back to the Titans Tower via an underwater tunnel. It is not till the next day, that Arsenal gets his rage under control and contacts Vanguard via the comlink. "Vanguard, please report to floor five." The doors to the elevator open a few minutes later and Vanguard steps in. He's not in his costume, having been in the middle of a workout in the gym when Arsenal called. He's in a tank top and sweats and a towel is draped around his neck. When he steps into the control room, he moves to stand next to his team leader. "What's up, Arsenal?" This is not a floor that Vanguard was allowed in before. Arsenal is in one of the silver high-backed chairs. He spins it about as you come in, and raises an eyebrow. There is some bruising on his face, and a cut on one cheek. Whoever he was fighting, was aiming to do damage, but he appears to have minimized it. "Your thirty-day trial period is over." He moves to push up out of the chair. He offers a bare hand toward you, "Welcome to the Titans as a full-fledged member Vanguard." Arsenal's temper is under control once more, and his expression is polite. He isn't smiling, but he's more friendly than he has been in the past. Dedrick Jones smiles faintly as he extends his hand and offers Arsenal a firm handshake. "Thank you. It's been a real honor being here. I hope to make you all proud." The tech geek side of him is itching to get out and inspect all of the equipment in here, but he's holding it in so he doesn't embarass himself. "So that means that I'll be allowed into the other areas of the Tower, right? Cyborg has been telling me about how advanced the mainframe is. I've been wanting to see it for myself." A nod at that. "There are some things restricted to certain individuals, the founders, etc. But much of the system will not be open to you." Arsenal drops his hand to his side after the handshake. "Have a seat man," he motions the other chair as he retakes his own seat. "I'll explain the basics on how to perform research on villains, and to assist with communications and relaying information to our communicators," be they cell phones, comlinks, or PDAs. "Cyborg has performed miracles on the mainframe. If the section does not recongize your voice or password, that means you aren't allowed in it for a reason. If you think you should have access to something, ask Nighting, Robin, Cyborg, or myself." Arsenal starts by showing you some of the controls and programs to use. Dedrick Jones takes a seat in the high backed chair next to him and devotes his attention to listening to Arsenal explain things. "I can understand that. So I shouldn't poke my nose where it doesn't belong. Got it." He grows quiet as Arsenal explains the programs further and what they're used for. After a couple minutes, he asks, "Arsenal..do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Arsenal is quiet for a few moments, his body tensing. But finally he nods, "Sure...don't promise to answer, but I'm willing to listen." Improvement. Even though Dedrick couldn't keep his promise to Arsenal yesterday, something improved between the two of them. Dedrick Jones exhales slowly and nods, understanding the situation. He then asks, "Yesterday, when I was chasing those guys in power armor. They seemsed very familiar with you. I even heard one of them call you by your surname. Did you know the lady in the red dress? I got a good look at her by the docks before I had to break off persuit, but I didn't recognize her as any supervillian I've ever faced or have seen in any of the databases I've had access to. But I could tell that you were pretty tense afterwards which is why I gave you some space. But I'm curious..what is she to you?" Arsenal's fingers taps the console, as if debating what exactly to tell you. When he speaks, it is tensely, but he does speak. "She was my daughter's babysitter, before I got custody of her. Her...mother gave her to me, realizing she was in too much danger with her. But sometimes there are 'issues'. Considering...her mother was missing over the holiday season which is not normal, I'm guessing something bad is afoot." His jaw is tight. "The others do not approve of me keeping any form of contract with my daughter's mother, but I rather see what blindsides me, before it hits me," frustration and bitterness in his tone. "We I lose track of her, bad shit happens, really, really bad shit." He sounds very serious. Arsenal laughs at that, it sounds mocking. With a few key strokes then, an image of Cheshire, with her codename and name, along with a list of her crimes and abilities show up on the large screen. "Sure, don't judge," as if silently adding 'good luck with that'. Assassin, mercenary, terrorist...she was the one that nuked Qurac and was found guilty of crimes against humanity in court! She still has a warrent out for her arrest from her escape during the marriage of the worlds. And one can see it...the facial features, the dark hair, the eyes....Red Arrow looks very much like her mother. A woman that specializes in poisons, and there are a list of her commonly used ones on one side, and their anidotes. The woman is not only terrifying, but she's a mass murderer and a master mind when she so wishes to be having taken over criminal organizations before. The missile in Star City if Cheshire is behind it? It was /nothing/ of what could be. Dedrick Jones looks at the monitor and the more he reads, the more his eyes widen. He even covers his mouth with his hand as he feels his heartbeat quicken. "My god. This is your daughter's mother!?" He continues reading, his blood boiling at the mention of Qurac. He frowns heavily..he's fought monsters before, but this one takes the cake. "She is more dangerous than any other that I've ever heard of...except for Darkseid." He turns to look at Arsenal. "But my offer still stands, Arsenal." Arsenal shakes his head and closes the file. "This is actually exactly why you will /stay/ out of it. She's a danger even to the most experienced of us, and you are still new to this. But I'll be working with some of my old secret agent buddies with tracking her down. I just need the Titans to be on alert, in case...Jade tries to come here or send someone else to take back our daughter." Arsenal sounds wary at that. "If you let her get close, she /will/ kill you Vanguard. And she will be prepared for whatever the Titans can throw at her. She has already bypassed our security before as well." He isn't kidding. "But there is still no real safer place for her to be...unless I can get Black Canary to babysit her over in Gotham City. Black Canary scares /me/ shitless." Dedrick Jones nods. "Understood. If you want me to stay out, I will. But I'm not easily killed, man. I'm no kryptonian by a long shot, but I can handle myself, and I'm learning new skills from the team the longer I stay here. But you are right in the fact that you have more experience than I do, and that's why I'll follow your order on not going after this chick." He pauses. "And she scares me, too. So does Batman..it's the way he looks at me." He shivers involuntarily at the memory of the man. "Oh dude! He has eyes in the back of his cowl! I shot a suction arrow at him as a kid, right at his back! He was talking to Green Arrow and some of the others, and he spun about and caught it! I was terrified of him for years after that," he says with a laugh. "But when Jade was in trouble, and our daughter was kidnapped, Batman partnered up with me and helped me out. We actually worked pretty well together. He's a grumpy ol' man, but his heart is in the right place when it counts." Arsenal then sighs dramatically, "Red Arrow calls him Uncle Batman, and adores him. She is likely the only one in all the Titans that would run up to him and give him a hug. I asked Nightwing if him and Batman ever hug, like Green Arrow and I might hug in greeting. Nightwing looked at me as if I was crazy!" Dedrick Jones laughs. "He doesn't really strike me as the hugging type. He's a pretty distant guy, doesn't really talk much..or at least not to me. I was in Gotham...just looking around, really. And I stopped a mugging. Batman showed up and kicked me out. He said that if the thugs got the idea that I was going to be there on a regular basis, that they'd step up their game to deal with me and in the process make it more difficult for him. It made sense and I've never been back to Gotham since. Not as Vanguard anyways." He sighs. "I like Nightwing and Robin, though. They share Batman's intensity, but they're way more approachable." A nod comes from Arsenal, "Nightwing is my best bud. Not that Flash and I didn't have competition over that in the past," and Roy grins at that. "But I'm the one that's around more often now, while Flash is busy with Justice League and Central City/Keystone City stuff. Though I miss pulling pranks with him, we got into so much shit all the time in the old days." Old memories...the Titans have been around for a long time off and on, since they were young teens. Dedrick Jones smiles. "I've had the chance to work with Flash before. He's a great guy...loves to crack jokes. But he can't stay still at all and his patience is non-existent. I think it might be because he's always in motion. Nightwing offered to teach me some fighting moves and I plan to take him up on it. Kara is already teaching me kryptonian martial arts. I'll admit that my fighting skills are severely lacking. I've gotten by on brute strength before now, but I know I need to step up my game if I don't want to be a burden to this team." Arsenal nods at that, "I'm one of the top-notched martial artists in the Titans. Though Black Canary can hand me my ass," but he sounds more proud of Black Canary than offended. "She's just /that/ damn good." She is family to Arsenal, even if her and Ollie are broken up right now. "But my speciality is in weaponry I must admit. I know about three dozen weapons in here I can potentially kill you with. I guess that betrays my government co-ops training, huh?" Dedrick Jones grins. "A little, probably. But it also makes me very nervous. That's why I never want to find myself on your bad side, Roy." He turns back to the screen and looks at the info on Chesire again if it's still up there. He shakes his head. "It's people like this is the reason I decided to put on the mask in the first place. My parents are actually relieved I'm a Titan now. It means I'm not alone anymore and there are more people to watch my back. I tend to agree with that assessment." It's not still up, but could easily be brought back up. "So..your parents know huh? That's...different. Well, my foster dad knows about me...Cassie's mom knows obviously," she doesn't have a secret identity. "Arrowette's mom knew when she was a YJ'er, but then again she had a restraining order against her from her own daughter." Go figure. "I'm not sure about The Ray come to think about it...Superboy calls Supes dad now I think." He shrugs, "Most of us don't have what you call a 'traditional' family, or even a single parent one like Cassie. You are actually pretty lucky that you don't only have adoptive parents that care, but you are able to be truthful with. It's got to be terrifying though...thinking of your secret identity getting out, of them being targetted. I know, some nights I have nightmares about it with my daughter." A simple confession, but to Roy, it's just part of being a superhero. Dedrick Jones smiles and nods. "You have no idea how thankful I am to have parents like mine. I was in the car with my birth parents when it crashed. It killed them both instantly, but I was ejected out of the car through the window in my car seat. When Vincent and Allison adopted me, I was about five years old. They are the only parents that I've ever known. When I woke up one morning floating above my bed, it was my Dad that helped me sort through all of the crazy stuff that was happening to me. When I turned 17, I told him I wanted to be a superhero. Instead of talking me out of it, he supported my decision and built my costume using his money." He shrugs. "I know a lot of people don't have it as good as I do, and that's what keeps me humble. It's why I give money to charities and I don't flaunt my wealth. I decided to dedicate my life to helping those who couldn't help themselves. And I never looked back." "Surrrrre, the car isn't flaunting it at all." Roy then laughs. "Then again, I remember what it was like to be rich, but now I don't even make ends meet." But honestly? Roy doesn't seem to care about money. "Though if you are looking for a new charity? Do me a favor; check out some of them at the Navajo Reservation. I could give you a list of them. I got a friend there right now, helping out to try and reduce the gang violence and drug trafficking, but the alcoholism is really high too. They are struggling to save their culture and language." Roy actually sounds a bit passionate about it, though he's showing restraint. He did mention he was raised by a guy named Broken Arrow, perhaps he was Navajo? "Anyway, I got to report in to a debriefing." He rises to his feet. "The top floor is also open to you, your security access has already been updated. And like I said, keep an eye out for anything or anyone suspicious about Titans Tower. I'm letting Rose know to keep extra alert too." That is Red Arrow's nanny, and if Dedrick looks up Rose in the system...he will find out she is Deathstroke's daughter and though not an active superhero, is dangerous as hell! She could teach Dedrick quite a number of things martial arts as well. "Really?" Harper's face actually lights up! He really does care about that reservation. "Thanks!" He then laughs, "Good man. I like that car." But he then nods, "She's cool, and trustworthy." But he then slips out the door and gives a wave, "I'll drop you the e-mail soon." And he is then gone. Dedrick Jones steps into the elevator with a stunned look on his face. This was, without a doubt, the first time that he had ever spoken with Roy without him going all rage on him. The young hero really didn't know how to react. At first, the thought that maybe he was replaced by a pod person...or that maybe Kara had threatened him into being nice. With a shrug he just figures that finally the man didn't see him as a threat. Now, he could actually understand why Kara had a crush on him at one time. He shakes his head and chuckles to himself. "Maybe he really does want me here. Go figure."